Thankfully I did not start my summers in southern France. Because I never would have made it anywhere else. And I love seeing new places. The French Riviera is that wonderful.
Lets start with the sun. Many beaches are pebbles in the area. However, Antibes, France, had beaches with sand. Lots of sunbathers in the final days of summer. Well, August.
Lots of cool streets and buildings.
With a tree in the street? Literally. I couldn't help but stare at them as I walked.
A great market:
And I loved the Picasso museum. If you have been paying attention, Picasso's paintings are all over Europe. Additionally, many museums are dedicated to him. He was invited to paint in Antibes for a couple of months. He then donated some of the artwork to the museum. His son further donated works. The museum has photographs of him working and of him with some of the works. There are also tribute pieces. My favorite is Hommage a Picasso (Homage to Picasso):
I loved the food. Right out side of the hotel was a bread stand. It smelled delicious. I could eat macaroons all day long. The market hall sold some of my favorites.
I had a wonderful fish dinner from La Marmite. And rich chocolate moose. But I loved the bouillabaisse at Restaurant de Bacon. And since that was a bit pricey, at the other restaurants, I substituted soupe de poisson (fish soup). Both were served with croutons and rouille sauce you spread on the croutons. Wow. That's the best way to describe the flavor when you mixed the three. Tastes better than it looks.
I may retire here.
Christine
PS, I'm not taking suggestions on how to film better. haha
Vacation equals laying on a beach. That's the whole purpose of visiting Faro, Portugal. Faro is a scenic, 2 hour bus ride from Seville, Spain. We drove past rolling hills. Though most were brown. Because it was 40 C (104 F) there. And, as best I can tell, no rain. Ever. Well, not during my journey. There are no pictures. I may have fell asleep part of the way. I'm sure you all are shocked.
The ocean. (I've skipped to the fun part. We'll get back to the city in a second.)
Faro is also the southern most point of Portugal. Learn something new everyday.
After arriving, we toured the old town. Check off the church. And the boats. The food was spectacular. We shared shell fish paella (which is actually a Spanish dish, but whatever). Amazing tasting. And drank sangria. So refreshing.
The main event of the trip was the Deserted Island. I took the 40 minute ferry ride over. The island has a restaurant that serves fresh fish from the waters. The fishermen live right there. And some umbrellas and chairs to rent. A nature trail walk and lots of sea shells also occupies the island. We spent the whole day being lazy by the water. What a great day.
Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a walled city. And there are no cars within the walls. You'll see that in a few.
From on/within the wall.
A picture I'll one day paint.
Ok, this last one was from the wall, looking at the old port.
The main street is Stradun. Yes it is marble (I think).
Little ones playing on the ground.
I think this is my favorite picture-some kids sneaking a ride.
The original bell tower was from 1444, but rebuilt in 1920 when it started to lean. The clock is wound every 2 days.
Cool architecture
During the Middle Ages, they built a large water duct system and fountain.
St. Blaise is the patron saint. At his church, I lit a candle here for my Great Aunt Jo. A little while later, the nun extinguished them all, kicked everyone out, and locked the door. I tried. But notice how I'm visiting a place with Catholic churches....
The Croatians fought the Defense of the Homeland War against the Yugoslav Army. The Croatians used the fortress at the high point (Mount Srd) above the city to defend it. The original cable car and cross were destroyed in the the fighting. The landmines were removed and in 2010 a new cable car was built. In a 2003 visit, Pope John Paul blessed the rubble of the old cross.
You can walk up to Mount Srd or take the cable car. I took the cable car up (why not I use them all the time to ski) mostly because I couldn't find the foot path. I managed to find the path for the walk down (45 minutes). I would have preferred to walk up.
The mountain view from the cross area is breathtaking. If it weren't for the fighting, I would have liked to hike around there. But I'm not that stupid. I'll stick to the well worn path. (Yes this is a real picture from my amazing new camera that I love. Even if the mountain and clouds look fake because it is that good.)
About 56 percent of the buildings were damaged by artillery. The buildings with bright orange tile are the ones damaged and replaced.
If you look closely, you can see the shrapnel damage, from the war, on the building.
Croatia is suppose to be a cheap country to visit. Maybe this is true. If you don't go to the tourist part. I went to Dubrovnik to see the beaches. I figured that end of May would be warm enough to lay there on the beach and be happy. Evil weather in Europe had other plans. As it turns out, this is the oddest year for weather. It feels like March 1st, not early June. So I didn't get to lay on the beach in my swim suit. But I did visit the beach. It is beautiful. There is sand there and then pebbles/rocks as well. And the water is amazing clear and such vivid colors of blue and green.
Remember, not a film major (I'll work on taking better videos in the future).
I loved the octupus salad at Konoba Kamenice. Best octupus salad I've ever had. And I've had a few good ones. And the seafood risotto I ate. Also, wonderful Americanish breakfast. Not quite American bacon, but close and I'll take it. ha ha Plus I recommend Dolce Vita for the orange or chocolate chip ice cream. But I doubt you could go wrong with any flavor there.
